The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-24
MONEY IN LETTERS.

MONEY IN LETTERS.
As has been already indicated, the openers
must be persons of character, for the reason
that a great many letters contain money.
when money is found in the letters, or, in
deed, any Enclosure, the openers are required
to make in a book provided for the purpose
an entry of the amount of money found and
the character of the inclOSure, OF whatever
kind. This record passes into the hands of
other clerks. constituting system of checks,
which experience has shown TO he necessary,
and it is believed that there is no loss
through dishonesty of the employees. The
system has been the growth of years, and in
the few cases that have occurred in the past
of dishonesty ON the part of employees, the
weak points i'll the system have been brought
to light aud remedied, 1t is surprising to
learn how much money Is yearly lntrusted
to the mails, and although the number of
Letter Office is probably only a small pro
portion of the entire number mailed, yet
last wear there was received at the office
over $31 900 in letters. The invention of
such devices as the money order, with the
cheap fees, and the still more modern de-
vice of the postal note, were designed for
the purpose of avoiding this risk which let
terS containing money are subjected to; yet,
in spite of these devices a great many PEG
pie still slip their money into the envelope
and trust to luck that their letter. with it's
contents, will escape all the perils of the
wav. The registered letter is still another
method of lessening { he risk, and while it is
true that the number OF letters containing
money has been reduced by these devices,
still people, strangely enough. do not avail
themselves of the advantages offered OF
the $;51 600 received last year in letters over
$2l 900 was restored TO owners, nearly
81. 900 remained in the hands of postmasters
awaiting restoration, and over 81 900 could
not be restored and was placed in the United
States Treasury, where it remains for
period of four years, subject to be reclaimed
by the owners
WORKING OUT PUZZLES
Perhaps the most interesting feature of
the work of the Office is the treatment of
letters which are sent there because of III
sufficient or incorrect addresses. These let
tiers represent for the most part the careless
ness and the hurry of the American people
A business man in this city, writing a letter
to an acquaintance in Philadelphia, for ex-
ample, dashes off his signature at the close
Of the letter and, while directing the en-
velope, is thinking of the next subject that
demands his atten zion, and instead OF writ
ing Philadelphia be subsc11beS off the word
city as he Goes hundred times day,
Supposing, of course, that the majority Of
readily if his correspondents address in
Philadelphia happens to be one of the mum
bered streets When the letter comes to the
Dead Letter Office it is handed over to a lady
clerk who has referred to her over thou
sand of such letters each day. By long
practice with dealing with such conmdrums
the address is properly amended and the
letter Is sent on its way again. Some peo-
pie drop letters into the office without any
81 oil,
IllegibIy and with such disregard for the
rules of photography that no one but an ex
pert is able to decipher the meaning Mis-
takes of all kinds are made i'll addressing
letters. The wrong State is given, or else
the wrong town, perhaps both town and
State are omitted. Some humorous persons
write out the whole address nrhymed verse,
and, like good deal of more pretentious
velSe-na<ing some times il is possible to
ascertain the authors meaning, and then
again the meaning eludes the most careful
study When it is considered that the com
bined carelessness and ignorance of the Ell
tire country has a daily and hourly opportu
nifty to develop an aptitude for laundering,
it is surprising that the proportion of sucl
letters is not much larger than it really is.
But when samples of this part of the mail
bag of the Dead Letter Office are examined,
It is still more surprising to learn that 80
per cent of the letters of this character
which are received each day and cor
rected are delivered to the persons ad
dressed.
SOLD FOR WASTE PAPER.
When letters contain no Enclosures, either
of money or merchandise, and every method
has been exhausted for returning them
either to the writer or the person addressed,
they are bundled together and sold for waste
paper. There are over 1000 900 letters and
parcels which are disposed of each year in
this way, and the revenue derived from the
sale is turned into the Treasury, together
with the money received in letters for which
no owner can be found. Last year there
was nearly $4,000 deposited in the Treasury
on this account A visit to the museum of
this office shows the manifold uses to which
the mails are put in the transportation OF
matter other than letters. In this collection,
which preserves only the most notable OBJ
jects, may be found boots, Shoes coats
shawls. bedquilts, hoop skirts, rattlesnakes,
horned toads, gloves, lace collars, photo
graphs, jewelry, false hair, etc. The arti-
cles received in the mails are retained for
two years, and then if not called for are
sold at public auction. The sale last year
realized over $1,000 The system of keepirg
such a vast amount of matter together
with the necessity Of being able to produce
any article called for in the mass of stuff ac-
culnuldUeu, involves q very nice IneUnOU OF
bookkeeping. The storehouse is III the
depths of the Post Office Department build
Ing, in what might be called the catacombs,
for the place is nenrly all under ground,
and the arrangement Of the labeled pack
ages in little alcovas extending from the
walls to the ceiling justifies ikeniug the
place to
THE CATAcoMBs.
However it is a mighty storehouse, ami
while apparently it is a labyrinth without
clue, there can be no more orderly place
For every day an inquiry comes for some
portion Of the contents, and the keeper of
the crypt is able to lay his hands instantly
on any package. however small. the moment
there is n call for it.
The yearly increase in the amount Of mat
ter handled 10y the Dead Letter Office,
which, while comparatively small, is never
theless conclusive that the American people
were yearly becoming more careless For
after all carelessness is the cause of large
proportion of the early deaths Of postal
matter The increase.in the Dead Letter
Office matter last year was little over
per ceut., but this increases not nearly pro
portioned TO that of the volume of matter
committed b. the mails. Last year the in
crease in the amount of matter of all kinds
sent through the mails was about 10 per
cent. So il may be concluded that while the
dead letter matter increases each year, this
IL lta tn ba nF